COVID-19 Vaccine

A “booster dose” or “booster shot”  is an additional dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. As of now, only the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccination has been authorized by the FDA and the CDC. Therefore, a booster is a third dose of the Pfizer vaccine.

Individuals who have previously received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and who completed their initial series at least 6 months prior to receiving the booster are eligible if they fall within the following categories:

• Individuals who are immunocompromised
• 65 years of age or older
• Residents of a long-term care facility
• 50 to 64 years of age with underlying medical conditions that put them at high risk of severe COVID-19
• 18 to 49 years of age, with underlying health conditions, based on individual benefits and risks
• 18 to 64 years of age whose occupation puts them at high risk of exposure to COVID-19 

No. As noted by the CDC, individuals who received Johnson & Johnson or Moderna are not able to receive a Pfizer booster. The FDA and CDC are reviewing data for these two vaccines and additional doses.

Eligible individuals may schedule a booster shot 6 months after completing the two dose series of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

Neither Barnard nor Columbia’s Lerner vaccination hub offers boosters at this time. Available appointments and locations to receive Pfizer vaccine doses, including booster doses, may be found using the following sources:

• New York City Vaccine Finder
• New York State Covid-19 Vaccines
• New Jersey Covid-19 Information Hub
• Connecticut Vaccination Portal
• Sites at CUIMC

Yes. It is safe to get both COVID-19 and flu vaccines at the same time. See here for information on the coadministration of COVID-19 vaccines with other vaccines. Annual flu vaccine is recommended for everyone 6 months of age and older and required pursuant to Barnard’s Community Commitment and Personal Responsibility Pledge. Flu vaccine reduces illness, hospitalizations and death from the flu. 

No. At this time, PCHS has Moderna vaccine for first series vaccination for students and does not have Pfizer for boosters.

Barnard is not currently requiring booster doses. Barnard makes decisions in accordance with CDC guidelines and the New York State Department of Health. If you have questions about your eligibility or personal health please contact your provider (students can contact PCHS if they don’t have another medical provider). If you are eligible and receive a third dose of vaccine, please upload the information into the Open Communicator website (as you did with previous doses).As with initial vaccine eligibility in the winter, the information may evolve rapidly, and we will continue to update the community about eligibility for boosters, and any further guidance or requirements for our community members.
 

Yes. Everyone is still considered fully vaccinated two weeks after their second dose in a 2-shot series, such as the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines, or two weeks after a single-dose vaccine, such as the J&J/Janssen vaccine.

Public health experts, including our own infectious diseases advisors from the Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC), have identified COVID-19 vaccinations as the key factor in reducing COVID-19 infections and allowing us all to return to a less restricted, more normal way of life. Not only do these vaccines prevent serious illness, hospitalization, and death from COVID-19, they also limit the spread of the virus within communities.

Vaccines authorized by the FDA or by the World Health Organization ("WHO") will be acceptable to fulfill this requirement.

Yes. Barnard will accept evidence of vaccination that has received authorization by the World Health Organization. 

No. We strongly encourage everyone to get vaccinated wherever they are in order to protect you, your family and community from COVID-19.

We encourage everyone to get their first shot (whether of a one-dose or a two-dose vaccine) as soon as possible.

“Fully vaccinated” means that it has been at least 14 days from the final dose. We understand that some members of the community may be coming from international locations and may not be able to arrive on campus having been fully vaccinated by an FDA-authorized or WHO-listed COVID-19 vaccine. Primary Care Health Services will work with those students so that they can get their initial dose as soon as possible, including during their arrival quarantine. If students do not anticipate that they will arrive to campus fully vaccinated and meet the August 15 deadline, they must complete the Incomplete Vaccine Requirement Status Form.  For others who will not have received their final dose of a WHO-listed or FDA-authorized COVID-19  by August 1, you will not meet the August 15th deadline. If you are concerned that you may not meet the August 15 deadline for any other reason, you must also complete the Incomplete Vaccine Requirement Status Form so that the College can offer appropriate assistance. Grace periods may be extended to community members who have had international accessibility issues and other valid reasons for the delay. Submitting this form does not automatically grant you a grace period; you will receive further information to your Barnard email in response to your submission. 

We thank all members of the community who already voluntarily provided proof of their vaccination throughout the spring and summer. Students, staff and faculty must upload their proof of the COVID-19 vaccine via the Open Communicator website. Open Communicator is part of Point and Click, an outside vendor providing vaccine-verification services for all Barnard community members. 

Instructions can be found in this document; annotated screenshots are also available. 

Students, staff and faculty must submit the Request Form for Exemption Application to request an exemption from the vaccination requirement for specific medical or religious reasons in accordance with New York State public health laws. Late submissions will not be expedited and may affect the requestor’s return/access to campus.

Your vaccination data will not be shared with others and will only be used to determine access to the campus. It will be stored securely and access will be limited to those who need to track or monitor that information in their role.

Fully vaccinated students will still be required to comply with the College’s move-in testing requirements, as well as the Fall testing requirements, which will be announced in the coming weeks. Unvaccinated students will be informed of the additional precautions that they will be required to follow.

For students living on campus who need proof of residency, take the following steps to create a PDF of your housing assignment as an address.

1. Log into Barnard Housing Portal at https://barnard.starrezhousing.com/StarRezPortal
2. Click my.HOUSING on the navigation bar
3. Click Address Verification Letter

Again, you may also complete the College's survey for potential information on vaccine and booster availability.

You will not know who is and who is not vaccinated; however, Barnard faculty, staff, and students will not be allowed on campus unless they have met the vaccine requirement or have received a religious or medical exemption. Unvaccinated members of the community will be informed of the additional precautions that they will be required to follow, which include increased testing, required masking and other requirements.

If boosters or additional vaccination doses become available and recommended by public health experts, the College will determine whether and when to require boosters for our community. 

No. Under a new state law, employees may take up to four hours of paid leave at their regular rate of pay for each dose. This time will not be charged against other sick leave entitlement for staff, including New York State Paid COVID-19 Leave.

To use this COVID-19 vaccine leave, staff in TWU Local 264, Local 2110 Access Attendants, and 32BJ should let their manager know so that the time can be appropriately entered. For staff who use Timesaver, please enter this time using the new code “BC19 COVID-19 Vaccination."

No. The College is planning to resume full operations with classes that are in-person.

Students who are not vaccinated and do not qualify for a medical or religious exemption should contact their class Dean to discuss their limited options.

The College had an August 15 deadline for people to upload their documentation and the verification process of these thousands of records will take some time. The College continues to support our community to ensure vaccine access, including any student who did not have access to vaccines before coming to Barnard. Once the verification process is complete, we will publish our vaccination rate. The College will not disclose the vaccination status of any individual, so community members will not know who has been fully vaccinated, who is in the midst of getting vaccinated, and who has an approved exemption.